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Ana's Story: A Journey of Hope (Audio CD) (Unabridged)
Ana's Story A Journey of Hope - Audio CD - Unabridged Author:Jenna Bush She's seventeen. She's been abused. She has a child. And she's HIV-positive. — She is Ana, and this is her story. It begins the day she is born infected with HIV, transmitted from her young mother. Now she barely remembers her mamá, who died when Ana was only three. From then on, Ana's childhood becomes a blur of faint memo... more »ries and secrets -- secrets about her illness and about the abuse she endures.
Jenna Bush has written a powerful narrative nonfiction account of a girl who struggles to break free from a vicious cycle of abuse, poverty, and illness. Based on Jenna's work with UNICEF and inspired by the framework of one girl's life, it is also the story of many children around the world who are marginalized and excluded from basic care, support, and education.
Audio Review:
Jenna Bush's protagonist, Ana, is an amalgam of the poor, abused, neglected, and ill young women she met while working with UNICEF in Latin America. Bush's performance in the reading of Ana's story is straightforward. Her voice is pleasant, soft, and clear, and the story's frequent use of Spanish allows her to demonstrate her facility with the language. The structure of the book, however, offers a challenge to the audio format. Chapters are short, sometimes only a few sentences in length. The resulting fragmented presentation breaks the flow of the narrative in a manner that can become an annoying distraction. Further, President Bush's daughter's voice lacks a broad emotional range. Nonetheless, she conveys an intensity and sincerity that make her inaugural foray into print and audio a success. -- AudioFile